RCL: Isaiah 50:4-9; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Mark 14:1-15:47 Isaiah 50:4-9 Biblical scholars largely place this passage within what is called “Deutero-Isaiah,” the second of three movements in the Book of Isaiah dating to the end of the Babylonian Exile or the early post-exilic period. The passage contains the third of Isaiah’s four songs about…

RCL: Isaiah 50:4-9a; Psalm 31:9-16; Philippians 2:5-11; Mark 14:1-15:47 or Mark 15:1-39, [40-47] Isaiah 50:4-9a This passage is from what scholars call “Second Isaiah,” written while the people of Israel were living in exile in Babylon. This text is one of the “servant songs,” speaking of God’s servant, called to gather the exiled people back…

Isaiah 50:4-9a As we begin Holy Week, this passage in Isaiah reminds us of God’s help in times of distress. This passage was likely written during the time of Babylonian exile in the 6th Century BC—a time of great suffering and disorientation for the Israelites. Jesus’ arrest, trial, and crucifixion would have been similarly devastating…

Isaiah 50:4-9a Palm Sunday is the transition point between Lent and Holy Week, making it a particularly fitting time to reflect upon one’s relationship with God. The prophet Isaiah beseeched the people of God again and again to attend to their relationship with God, yet throughout the Old Testament, the Israelites struggled. They struggled because…

I have noticed that Palm Sunday in our Episcopal tradition is often a fairly joyous occasion. We break out the palms, we march into church, we sing many of our favorite hymns, and we leave with a cross-shaped palm to hang from our rear-view mirror or a handful of palms to show everyone just how…